MEXICO ECONOMY

Mexico City, Sep 14 (efe-epa).- The private sector will be crucial to enable Mexico to break years of "mediocre growth," Economy Secretary-designate Graciela Marquez said Friday.

"We seek to turn the Economy Secretariat into a driving force for industry, for it to be your voice within government," she said in a speech to the annual Concamin business federation meeting.

Marquez said that while the secretariat has few resources of its own, it will promote "proactive policies" to attend the "needs" of businesses starting on Dec. 1, when Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is sworn in as president.

"We acknowledge that the private sector is the engine of economic growth," she said, while adding that Mexico will break its period of "mediocre growth" if businesses "invest and create jobs."

The new government will promote new investments by creating "infrastructure and logistics," decreasing violence, and simplifying regulations, Marquez said.

"We have common objectives, because promoting the growth of the private sector also means strengthening the government's capacities, though this does not mean more government," she said.

The speech continued a pattern of outreach to the business community by Lopez Obrador following his landslide victory in the July 1 election after a campaign that saw public disputes between the leftist and prominent figures in the Mexican business community.

The administration will aim to boost domestic consumption to make Mexico's economy less dependent on exports, Marquez said.